The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine issued a decision allowing PrJSC “VF Ukraine” (Vodafone Ukraine) to acquire a share in the authorized capital of LLC “FRINET”. This will give Vodafone full control over the Internet provider.
The concentration is in the field of fixed-line Internet access services in Ukraine. The parties to the concentration provide Internet access services to both individuals and legal entities in many settlements of Ukraine.
The AMC notes that Vodafone’s shares in the relevant regional markets are insignificant. Therefore, as a result of the concentration, the company’s aggregate shares in the regional markets for fixed-line Internet access services to individuals and legal entities will not exceed 15-21 percent.
During the review of the application, it was established that the markets involved in the concentration are highly competitive. In particular, the main competitors of VF Ukraine are Ukrtelecom, Vega, Kyivstar, Fregat, Lanet, Triolan, HOMENET, Goodnet, PROSTO, IT-Invest, Darkwood, RedLine, etc.
“Given the presence of a significant number of providers of Internet access services to legal entities and individuals, and, accordingly, high competition for consumers, including by setting more attractive prices for Internet access services, using the latest technological advances, marketing activities, etc., a potential consumer is not limited in choosing a provider of these services and chooses it based not only on price but also on quality characteristics,” the Antimonopoly Committee believes.
In addition, consumers of Internet access services have the opportunity to switch to another provider without significant costs and without significant effort.
“Thus, the declared concentration does not lead to monopolization or significant restriction of competition in the Ukrainian commodity markets, so the AMCU granted the relevant permit.”
